Cook Once, Eat Twice: How to Save Time & Money in the Kitchen

February 27, 2017By Jackie Sun

Eating healthy and delicious home cooked meals everyday doesn’t require a lot of time and money. Our free mini recipe book shows how you can save time and money and enjoy leftovers with the “cook once, eat twice” method.

We totally understand that one of the biggest barriers to cooking is time – we’re all short on it.

There’s work, school, hobbies, exercise, chores, in addition to eating at least 3 meals a day. If you’re someone who doesn’t want to eat out, get takeout or rely on processed foods, then you’re probably having to do a lot of meal planning as well.

We know it’s a lot to deal with, but what if we told you that cooking more can actually save time and money?

Our time- and money-saving tip of the day is known as “cook once, eat twice.” Although it sounds like it, we’re not exactly talking about leftovers here. Leftovers will be involved, but not in the boring, I’m-having-the-same-meal-for-the-nth-time-in-the-row way.

We’re talking repurposed meals, which are dishes that can be transformed into a new meal altogether.

Some examples: Leftover chili makes the perfect topping for easy-peasy, next-day nachos. Meatballs can be enjoyed a second night in a bubbly, cheesy pizza or tucked into a warm sandwich. The possibilities are endless (as well as efficient!).

The idea is that you are doubling the recipe for something one night and repurposing it into a new and delicious meal for another night, a different meal that you’ll actually enjoy eating.

Cooking twice the amount saves time because it’s not like you’re doing anything different. If you’re slow-cooking pork tenderloin, all you have to do is put larger amounts of each ingredient into the slow cooker. Repurposing the extras saves money because you won’t be finding reasons to avoid eating the same leftovers again and again, and eventually throwing it away.

That’s why our meal plans often feature repurposed “cook once, eat twice” meals. They not only save our members a lot of time but also helps reduce food waste.

To give you a little repurposed meal inspiration, we’ve put together a mini recipe book to show you 5 ways that we turn one meal into two. You can download it for free here:

Free Download

Cook Once, Eat Twice Recipes

Save time in the kitchen with 5 recipes that can be easily repurposed into 5 new and delicious meals.

Cook Once, Eat Twice

Turn 5 recipes into completely new and delicious versions.

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In addition to the 5 recipes (actually 10 recipes, since you’ll be making completely new meals!), we’ve included our popular Repurposing Leftovers & Leftover Ingredients infographic in the download to give you more ideas of how to repurpose any other kinds of leftovers.

This mini recipe book and guide will be just the start, as we know you’ll come up with your own creative repurposing ideas.

As always, we’re here to help you live your best life in the kitchen. Join our cooking community by signing up for our newsletter below, and we’ll send you great cooking tips and resources that will help you raise your kitchen IQ and cook with confidence.